You Should be Getting Complaints Like This

4 Comments

A few months ago I changed the format of Coach Radio to what I thought would be more fun. In the past I’ve jumped right into content or teaching in the first few minutes of the show. While there are a lot of great shows that do that, I’ve realized that’s not exactly who I am.

Don’t get me wrong, I love great content. But even when I’m working, I love to have fun.

The other day I got this tweet and my heart sank:

A proper response might have been to apologize and immediately change back to the old way of doing things. That’s when I realized I was doing it exactly right.

Between various shows I’ve produced, I’ve released about 400 episodes. Most of those episodes haven’t received a single comment or reaction, good or bad. People were listening, but they didn’t care much. The content wasn’t bad (or I would have received complaints or lost subscribers) but it also wasn’t remarkable (or people would have shared it with their friends like crazy). Instead it was just another podcast in a sea of thousands of podcasts.

Contrast that tweet to these that have been pouring in over the past few weeks.

 

Pretty good, huh?

My point is that if you’re not getting complaints, there probably aren’t many people on the other end of the spectrum who love you. This is hard if you seek approval from everyone. Truthfully, it’s also hard for me.

But it’s a reality. If you’re getting complaints and praise, you’re doing the right thing. The worst scenario is getting neither. I’m off to record more entertainment now.

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Posted on May 25, 2012

  • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

    I’ve heard similar complaints about the Catalyst podcast. The hosts will jabber on and on about sports or the latest trends before getting to the interviews.

    I find it very entertaining. Yet my friends get easily annoyed with their style. Just goes to show you, different strokes for different folks.

  • http://www.selfemployedmoneymanagement.com/ Ryan Eidson

    I’m with you, Justin. I like to hear feedback about content I’ve released or a project I completed. When we hear nothing back, we have no gauge from the audience.

    Receiving feedback of any type means that the other person is at least thinking about what we’ve done.

    Recent example: I produced the online video stream for a college graduation this month, and we had mixed reviews. Some people could stream it fine and loved the opportunity to see it live (even though they could not come to campus), while others wrote back with tech problems. One person who tried to watch it on a mobile device, yet unsuccessful, still sent back encouragement: “Thanks for all your hard work!”

  • http://coachradio.tv/ Justin Lukasavige

    That’s encouraging to hear, Ryan. Keep it up!

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